End of the line for Boeing C-17

A Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, is seen been assembled at the Boeing assembly facility in Long Beach. Tuesday, July 31, 2012. Aerospace giant Boeing Co. announced Wednesday that it would end all production of the C-17 cargo jet program and close the final assembly facility in Long Beach in 2015.AP

About the C-17 Globemaster III

First flight: 1991

End of production:Slated for 2015

Made in Long Beach: 257 cargo jets delivered as of last week. The Air Force received No. 223 on Sept. 12, the last of its orders. The others were delivered to India, Qatar, Australia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Canada and NATO. Up to 13 other foreign orders are pending.

Jets produced annually: 10

First operational C-17 squadron: January 1995

World records: 33, more than any other airlifter in history, including time to climb and short takeoff and landing

Length: 174 feet

Height at tail: 55.1 feet

Wingspan: 169.8 feet (to winglet tips)

Maximum payload: 164,900 pounds

Landing field length: 3,000 feet with 160,000 pounds of cargo

What does it carry: Troop and cargo, like M-1 tank; Army wheeled vehicles in two side-by-side rows

Cost: $202.3 million (1998 dollars)

Sources: Boeing and Air Force

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The C-17 has finally run out of time.

After years of layoffs and dwindling orders for the cargo jet, aerospace giant Boeing Co. announced Wednesday that it will end all C-17 production and close the final assembly facility in Long Beach in 2015.

This is the last major aviation assembly line in Southern California and the end of traditional military plane building in California – marking an end of an era for the Golden State that has for a century been associated with innovation in the industry.

Nearly 3,000 employees are affected by the announcement, with a little more than 2,000 of those C-17 jobs in Long Beach, according to Nan Bouchard, a Boeing senior vice president and C-17 program manager. The remaining jobs are in Macon, Ga.; Mesa, Ariz.; and St. Louis.

An all-hands meeting for Long Beach workers was called shortly before noon Wednesday when a webcast to all C-17 factories around the United States was broadcast with Bouchard and Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, delivering the bad news.

“It was dead silent,” said Don Winderman, a mechanic with 28 years at Boeing.

People quietly left their shifts around 2:30 p.m., many not even chatting among themselves. Others were already thinking about what they'd do next.

“Some will retire, and others will find other jobs,” Don Pitcher, director of production for Boeing in Long Beach, said as he took a break outside the factory Wednesday. “Boeing said they'll help people who want to stay find other work, in Seattle, Philadelphia. They may have to leave Southern California because as we know, aircraft production has been tough in Southern California. But those who want to can find jobs.”

Pitcher plans to retire.

“I'm going to enjoy life,” he said. “And play golf. This job has helped me buy two houses and send my kids through college and now help raise my grandchildren. We had a good run.”

Workforce reductions will begin in early 2014 and will continue through closure of the factory in 2015, though officials didn't give a specific date. Logistics, support and maintenance work will continue for several years beyond then, said Bouchard, who wouldn't say how many Boeing workers would remain in Long Beach without the C-17 program.

Some of the pain might be partially alleviated by retirements or shifting some workers to other Boeing facilities in Southern California, or elsewhere, she said on a conference call with reporters.

The chances of another airplane building program – whether military or commercial – coming along to Long Beach don't seem realistic. Such a finite decision would end an era in Long Beach that began about three decades ago.

“I don't anticipate any new production program coming in,” Bouchard said, adding that no decision has been made by Boeing on the future of the sprawling assembly factory next to Long Beach Airport where the C-17 is built.

Other nearby Boeing properties have been sold off in recent years and are in development as part of a new business park.

Related Links

A Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, is seen been assembled at the Boeing assembly facility in Long Beach. Tuesday, July 31, 2012. Aerospace giant Boeing Co. announced Wednesday that it would end all production of the C-17 cargo jet program and close the final assembly facility in Long Beach in 2015. AP
U.S. Air Force personnel head out to the military's last C-17 as they prepare to leave Long Beach, September 12, 2013. Aerospace giant Boeing Co. announced Wednesday that it would end all production of the C-17 cargo jet program and close the final assembly facility in Long Beach in 2015. JEFF GRITCHEN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The U.S. Air Force's last C-17 prepares to leave Long Beach on September 12. Aerospace giant Boeing Co. announced Wednesday that it would end all production of the C-17 cargo jet program and close the final assembly facility in Long Beach in 2015. JEFF GRITCHEN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Day shift workers cross the street as they get off work at the Boeing plant in Long Beach. BILL ALKOFER, LONG BEACH REGISTER
Boeing employee Don Pitcher outside the Boeing plant. ///ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: lbr.boeing.0919 - 9/18/13 - BILL ALKOFER, LONG BEACH REGISTER - Boeing plant closes in 2015 BILL ALKOFER, LONG BEACH REGISTER

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